Dr. Samir V Kamat, Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has delivered a powerful message urging a shift in India's approach to defence research and development. Speaking at the Air Chief Marshal L.M. Katre Memorial Lecture 2024, Dr. Kamat highlighted the detrimental effects of risk aversion and intolerance of failure on innovation within the sector.
"If there is a failure, immediately you get a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report saying that you have caused loss to the government," Dr. Kamat explained. "Questions are raised on who is accountable. That makes people take on less challenging projects." This fear of repercussions, he argued, leads to a preference for extending existing projects rather than pursuing bolder, potentially groundbreaking endeavors.
Dr. Kamat emphasized the importance of embracing failure as a learning opportunity. "You learn a lot more from your failures than from your success," he stated, advocating for a "fail fast, learn, and move on" approach. He expressed optimism that this cultural shift is already underway, citing recent support from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who has granted more leeway for high-risk projects. This new approach, according to Dr. Kamat, will be crucial in "developing critical cutting-edge technology in the country."
Beyond addressing risk aversion, Dr. Kamat also stressed the need for increased investment in research and development. He pointed out that India currently spends only 0.65% of its GDP on R&D, significantly lower than countries like the USA (2.83%), China (2.14%), and South Korea (4.8%). He outlined a goal to increase this spending to at least 1% in the next four to five years and to 2% by 2035.
Dr. Kamat's call for a more risk-tolerant culture and increased investment in R&D reflects a growing recognition of the need for India to accelerate its development of advanced defence technologies to ensure national security and strategic autonomy.
